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How to Kill League of Legend's Newest Champion: Rengar Survival Guide

Know your enemy, says legendary military tactician Sun Tzu. But with over 100 champions already in League of Legends, and a new one joining the ranks every two weeks, it's getting increasingly tough to do. In our LoL hazing series we break down the newest threat, revealing weaknesses that you can exploit to secure victory against this flavor-of-the-week champ.

Felines aren't just valued for their ability to generate adorable memes -- many prove their worth as savage jungle predators. Meet Rengar, the giant killer cat-man that joins the ranks of League of Legends this week. Like every new champion released before him, Rengar will likely appear in all the matches you play for the next several days. So let's take a look at his best moves, how you can counter him, and why you should never, ever face-check brush.

Rengar Scouting Report
Here's a quick glance at what he can do. For a full, detailed list of his abilities, see Riot's official reveal page.

Role: Melee AD jungle/fighter with assassination tendencies.Resource: Ferocity; operates similar to combo points; every ability generates 1 point and at 5 points he executes an "empowered" version of any of his abilities.Arsenal: Mostly attack damage boosts with one minor defense buff, a ranged slow/root, and stealth capability on a long cooldown.Surprises: His passive allows him to leap a moderate distance whenever he's standing in brush; his ultimate allows him to see the locations of nearby enemy champions.

Make sure enemy Rengars see this message constantly.

Rule 1: Assume A Killer In Every Bush

"Face-checking" brush, which means simply walking into the foliage to see if someone's hiding there, is always reckless in League of Legends. This week, it's downright suicidal. Rengar lives in the bushes, and that's where he has a huge advantage. He can use them to leap past tanks and directly onto a squishy, or over walls out of danger. Practice your self-control this week and assume every bush has a tiny Rengar inside of it praying that you step "just a little bit closer..." Don't feed the cat.

Rule 2: Burn Down The Trees

If Rengar is not jungling, you need to make sure he stays out of the brush in his own lane. He can use the leap to secure incredible last-hit totals, which means more gold and more XP for your dreadlocked enemy, and more pain for you later on. Keep him out of the brush by throwing bombs, mines, and skill-shots in them as frequently as possible.

This Trundle is maintaining a safe distance from brush. His reward? Not dying.

Rule 3: Count To Five Slowly

Rengar needs to cycle through his abilities to reach his empowered state and unlock his full potential. He gets one Ferocity point for every ability he uses and, without his ultimate, he can only generate three at a time before being forced to wait for his cooldowns to regen. That means you want to confront him when he has no Ferocity and hit him hard while he's weak. Once you see his Ferocity bar fill up, he'll get a red glowing effect and you know the pain is coming -- that's the time to use any avoidance abilities you have.

Rule 4: Control The Kitty

Much like household cats, Rengar thrives on your complacency: leave him alone and he will be king, but a little discipline will send him scurrying to the shadows. He has no way to escape CC and can be killed quite quickly when he's not generating Ferocity. Focus your stuns and roots on Rengar and burn his health bar down fast. If you're lucky, he'll even help you by leaping right into your team from the brush.

Taric's ranged stun has a new effect: make Rengar players QQ.

Rule 5: Keep Your Teeth

Like Viktor, Rengar has a unique item in the store. The Bonetooth Necklace is a snowball carry's wet dream, granting more stats and ability perks as he racks up kills and assists. The item gets weaker every time he dies, though, so if he starts collecting a lot of teeth, you need to make sure he dies in team fights to keep him in check.

There you go, five simple rules for surviving a face-to-face encounter with a wild jungle cat. Good luck out there, and be sure to put your own survival tips in the comments to help each other.

Josh Augustine has enjoyed League of Legends since closed beta. His favorite champion is Talon, he's never enjoyed a Teemo, and he will always go for the kill, even when he knows he shouldn't. He's written about MMOs and MOBAs like LoL for years and currently works at Sony Online Entertainment as a content designer on EverQuest. You can talk with him on Twitter.

Spy Guy says: It makes you wonder: if cats have taken over the jungles, learned to wield weapons, and fashion jewelry out of teeth, why can't they master simple grammar? Anyway, will you be playing with Rengar or against him this week?